He sees her feet and falls in love with her – Aapke paon dekhe, bahut khoobsurat hain – the notion that one can fall in love like this belongs to an earlier, forgotten era and hence we’re thrilled every time we watch Pakeezah. The film took 14 years to make because Meena Kumari and her husband, director Kamal Amrohi parted ways in between. Meena Kumari was seriously ill and could only complete the film through sheer willpower when it was restarted in 1968 after a gap of 10 years. She’s flawless in her acting and both she and Raaj Kumar who played the gentleman lover with the right mix of compassion and humour won raves. His devotion brings about a change in his beloved and she begins to think of herself as being a woman more and a prostitute less. Their interaction scenes are like dewdrops of urdu poetry. The classical-based songs were composed by Ghulam Mohammed, who died before the release of the film in penury. Meena Kumari too died just after the film’s release and it became a huge hit as people clamoured to catch the star’s last glimpse.

DID YOU KNOW?

Amrohi’s original choice to play Salim’s character was Ashok Kumar, who later became the male lead’s (Raaj Kumar) uncle and the protagonist’s father in the end.